AC Milan beat Slavia, West Ham rout Freiburg to cruise into Europa League quarterfinals

AC Milan’s French goalkeeper Mike Maignan and French midfielder Yacine Adli react during their UEFA Europa League round of 16 second leg match against Slavia Prague in Prague on Mar.14, 2024. (AFP)

• The seven-time European champion have never won the second-tier Europa League or its predecessor, the UEFA Cup
• West Ham made the last eight by routing Freiburg 5-0 at London Stadium

MILAN: AC Milan cruised past 10-man Slavia Prague 3-1 to reach the quarterfinals of the Europa League on Thursday.
Milan advanced 7-3 on aggregate after winning the first leg of the last 16 tie 4-2 at San Siro a week ago.
The seven-time European champion have never won the second-tier Europa League or its predecessor, the UEFA Cup.
The competition gives the Italian powerhouse their only realistic chance to win a trophy this season after they were eliminated from the Italian Cup and currently trails Serie A leader Inter Milan by 16 points.
Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Rafael Leão put the result in the second leg beyond doubt with first-half goals in Prague.
Pulisic netted from 10 meters with a low shot to open the scoring in the 33rd minute and Loftus-Cheek tapped in the second into an empty net off a precise cross from Theo Hernández before Leão curled a right-footed drive from outside the area into the top right corner in first-half stoppage time.
Slavia got a consolation goal from substitute Matěj Jurásek.
Pulisic now has 11 goals in 38 appearances across all competitions in the US international’s first campaign with the Rossoneri to match his most productive season — the 2019-20 campaign at Chelsea.
Slavia’s early pressure lost steam after captain Tomáš Holeš received a straight red card in the 20th minute for fouling his counterpart Davide Calabria.
Milan first-choice goalkeeper Mike Maignan was injured early and was replaced by Marco Sportiello.
West Ham made the last eight by routing Freiburg 5-0 at London Stadium.
The Hammers reversed the first leg 1-0 defeat with the first-half goals from Lucas Paquetá and Jarrod Bowen.
Paquetá netted from close range after Tomáš Souček headed to him from a corner less than 10 minutes into the game. Bowen doubled the advantage in the 32nd.
Aaron Cresswell made it 3-0 early in the second half before Mohammed Kudus completed the rout with two late goals.
West Ham, last year’s Europa Conference League champion, have won 11 straight home games in European competitions in the last two seasons.
Marseille nearly blew a 4-0 lead from the first leg against Villarreal, which scored three goals Thursday before Jonathan Clauss netted in stoppage-time for the French visitors to seal a 5-3 aggregate victory despite a 3-1 loss on the evening.
Étienne Capoue, Alexander Sørloth and Yerson Mosquera scored to hand Marseille their first defeat since coach Jean-Louis Gasset took charge after five wins.
Benfica advanced after a 1-0 win over Rangers at Ibrox Stadium in Glagow. Rafa Silva scored in the 66th minute and the Lisbon team held on after the sides drew 2-2 last week.
The quarterfinals draw is scheduled for Friday.
EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE
In the third-tier competition, Maccabi Haifa held Fiorentina 1-1 but the Italian team — last year’s runner-up — advanced to the quarterfinals on a 5-4 aggregate score.
Viktoria Plzeň prevailed 3-1 on penalties over Servette after they played both legs and extra time without scoring a goal.
Greece’s PAOK recovered from a 2-0 loss at Dinamo Zagreb in the opening leg with a 5-1 home win to earn a place in the last eight.
Fenerbahce advanced despite a 1-0 home loss to Union Saint-Gilloise after taking 3-0 the first leg.